Carl Abrahamsson's Blog, page 3

Embracing the Ideal, pt 23

In today’s Magic Monday post at our Patreon, I write about LaVey’s ”total environment” as an important part of the magic of embracing the ideal:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/magic-monday-pt-137844349

”There is a lot to unpack in this, as is the case with many of LaVey’s magical innovations. Basically, being in an environment that is to as great a degree as possible styled by you based on honesty and resonance, will create a more or less perfect harmony and power that is in every way uniquely yours. In this environment and ensuing state of mind you will be able to formulate and perform magic of a different kind than the genie in the bottle kind; you will basically be your own genie, and the bottle could be anything from a designated corner, a room or an entire house. Or a preferred place in nature. Of course this doesn’t need to have anything to do with thematically magical objects or atmospheres. Only you know what’s creating that ultimate resonance in your sphere. Nostalgia is usually a great tool; weave an outer web filled with mementos and objects of positive resonance, no matter how banal or cheesy they can appear to others. (If they don’t respect your space, don’t invite them in.)”

#magicmonday #occulture #vanessasinclair #carlabrahamsson

Streams of Unconsciousness

Just posted some thoughts about the streamings of monocultural unconsciousness:

https://anartapart.substack.com/p/dreamstreams

“And how will this change us? Optimistically, we gain a wider republic of stories. A village without a cinema can still host a festival on a Tuesday night. We travel by subtitle; we acquire the grammar of distant lives. The long form affords moral patience, letting characters unfold beyond caricature. But attention, stretched and smoothed by auto-play, loses the useful roughness of intervals. The week between episodes once invited speculation, memory, the embroidery of talk. Compressed into a night, a season flows through us like a river whose banks we scarcely see.”

#dystopia #streaming #apocalypse #monoculture #ragnarok #occulture #anartapart #carlabrahamsson

Colin Wilson, pt 2

I just posted part 2 of my Colin Wilson appreciation:

https://thefenriswolf.substack.com/p/outsiders-unite-411

”Wilson’s language of the robot remains one of his most durable contributions. In an age saturated by distraction, the notion that we live robotically—failing to notice the miracle of the present because our attention has been captured by habit and utility—feels prescient. His counsel to cultivate wakefulness aligns with contemporary mindfulness practices, yet differs in its insistence on intensity and will. Wilson admired the saints and mystics, but he also admired mountaineers, explorers, and scientists—anyone who demanded more from reality and therefore received more. He thus aligns with a tradition of Western vitalism that includes Nietzsche and Bergson, tempered by the phenomenological insight that meaning is co-created by consciousness.”

#colinwilson #occulture #thefenriswolf #carlabrahamsson

Xenophobia!

Just posted an essay about the literary timelessness of Xenophobia. Nothing new under the sun, neither here nor over there… with the OTHERS:

https://anartapart.substack.com/p/xenophobia

”Still, literature is not a cure-all. It cultivates empathy and can sharpen suspicion. One page opens a window; the next rehearses a slur. Rather than imagining a straight moral ascent, it is truer to see an ongoing argument within the bookshelf. Readers learn to recognize signatures of fear: metaphors of dirt and infection, the tidy conversion, the noble demise that clears the stage for the dominant couple. Once learned, these patterns become audible even in works that otherwise enchant.”

#xenophobia #anartapart #carlabrahamsson

A great new photo book

Just posted a review of Vincent Peal’s excellent new photo book RITES & CEREMONIES:

https://thefenriswolf.substack.com/p/rites-and-ceremonies

”Let’s face the music and dance… These people’s approaches are very different from the consensus Western ones. We can clearly see that the ecstatic moment desired or needed to be able to transcend and enter the NUMINOUS seemingly needs a colorful, traditional and most often communal approach. The mechanics seem almost the same in all of these circumstances: upheave the normal mind-frame, shock the system, jolt the perceptions, and be temporarily free within these sacred and confined times and spaces. The mythic and strictly religious-symbolic trappings are essentially secondary. What these strange men and women do might just might be PURE religion in the most literal sense.”

#vincentpeal #timelessedition #ritesandceremonies #huntingasia #occulture #carlabrahamsson

Oracular Pilgrimages

In today’s Magic Monday at our Patreon, I write about how some pilgrimages can bring more than you bargained for:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/136750528

”Here’s the main insight: if we flip the script of analysis and look at this not as a causal camera trip via esthetic titillation but as a psychoanalytical journey proper, our bounty is more than a (pardon the pun that is not a pun) ”memory card” filled with said slices. Instead, it becomes pure fodder for analysis and many insights. What do we look at? Why? And how is that connected to… What, exactly? Of course one can just go and snap away, happy about spending time in a photographic paradise. But looking at the process as such in this magico-analytic way (definitely under the umbrella of what I’ve called ”Chimera Obscura”), the images in themselves are no longer general observations and documentations but actually particular revelations within a psychic grid. Because to ”take” a picture is to (un)consciously make a choice, a selection. And there’s always a reason why we choose what we choose.”

#pathography #chimeraobscura #occulture #vanessasinclair #carlabrahamsson

Are you ready to face your fears?

Do you have your ticket for my new class The Legacy of Horror?

https://www.morbidanatomy.org/classes/p/the-legacy-of-horror-with-carl-abrahamsson

”These films do not offer the comfort of resolution. The monsters are not slain. The characters are not healed. Instead, they emphasize the persistence of suffering—and the thin line between coping and collapse. Trauma horror asks the audience to dwell in discomfort, to sit with grief, guilt, and ambiguity. It replaces catharsis with confrontation.”

In four illustrated online live sessions, I will talk about the development of cultural expressions dealing with our psychological-emotional need to be terrified (by proxy/culture). It’s apparently not enough to be victims of disasters and psychopaths – we need to reli(e)ve the traumas by making up similar scenarios that we can share and process together in order to be rid of them. But can we ever, and do we really want to?

It’s the most ambitious class I’ve developed yet, and I look forward to seeing you there. Q & A after each session, of course. Come share your fears! (And, if you should miss out on a live session, you will of course be provided with a video recording.)

#horror #morbidanatomy #occulture #carlabrahamsson

Loving Diane Arbus

Just posted a loving appreciation of Diane Arbus. The exhibition at the Met in NYC in 2005 is still the best art thing I’ve EVER been to:

https://anartapart.substack.com/p/timeless-novelties

”The question of exploitation versus empathy in Arbus’s work cannot be definitively resolved, and perhaps this irresolvability is part of what gives her photographs their continuing power. They exist in an uncomfortable space between document and art, between compassion and voyeurism, between revealing and projecting. This ambiguity reflects larger questions about photography itself as a medium that both captures and constructs reality, that promises truth while trafficking in surfaces.”

#dianearbus #anartapart #carlabrahamsson

What’s cooking now?

Special podcast today: The Fenris Wolf joins forces with Rendering Unconscious to talk about all the crazy many things we have coming up:

https://thefenriswolf.substack.com/p/the-fenris-wolf-podcast-episode-5

“This conversation between Carl Abrahamsson and Vanessa Sinclair reveals a rich dialogue between two collaborators deeply engaged in exploring the intersections of occult culture, psychoanalysis, and contemporary society. Carl discusses his long-running project, The Fenris Wolf, which he has been publishing since 1989 as a journal dedicated to what he terms “occulture” – the fascinating intersection where occult practices meet and influence mainstream culture. Now in its 12th issue with a 13th forthcoming, the project has evolved to include a Substack newsletter that provides more frequent content including book reviews, current affairs, and recorded teachings. Carl emphasizes how underground cultural movements gradually permeate and transform mainstream society, a process he has witnessed and participated in for over three decades.

Looking ahead, Carl has two significant classes planned through Morbid Anatomy. His “Legacy of Horror” course, beginning August 24, represents his most ambitious teaching project yet, tracing horror culture from its primordial origins through religious and mythological traditions to contemporary social media. He argues that horror serves essential psychological functions, acting as a cultural processing mechanism for trauma and anxiety while satisfying our survival instincts.

In November, he will revisit his popular “Into the Devil’s Den and Back” class about Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan, drawing on his personal friendship with LaVey and his documentary work to contextualize LaVey’s significant cultural impact.

Vanessa has launched the Rendering Unconscious Center for Psychoanalysis, creating an open, non-academic space for exploring psychoanalytic theory and practice. Her flagship offering is a comprehensive 12-month introduction to psychoanalysis course beginning September 13, which will trace the field’s development from Freud’s early neurological work through contemporary queer and feminist psychoanalytic theory. She emphasizes the importance of creating inclusive spaces that welcome diverse theoretical orientations, contrasting this with the insularity she experienced in traditional psychoanalytic institutes. Central to Vanessa’s current work is “The Queerness of Psychoanalysis,” a groundbreaking book she co-edited that features contributions almost exclusively from trans and queer authors. This represents an unprecedented shift in psychoanalytic discourse, challenging traditional theories and practices while offering new perspectives on gender, sexuality, and identity. The book’s revolutionary nature reflects broader cultural changes and the need for psychoanalysis to evolve beyond its historically conservative positions.

Both speakers will participate in the Occulture conference in Berlin from October 23-26, where Carl will present his magical memoir “Meetings with Remarkable Magicians” alongside his forthcoming “Introduction to Occulture,” while Vanessa will explore the psychoanalytic influences in Anton LaVey’s work. Their conversation reveals shared interests in figures like Freud and LaVey, whom they see as pioneers who challenged people to confront uncomfortable truths about themselves and society. Throughout their discussion, themes of cultural transformation, psychological insight, and the importance of examining repressed or shadow aspects of human experience emerge repeatedly. Both emphasize creating accessible, supportive communities for exploring these complex topics, moving away from academic elitism toward more inclusive and practically applicable approaches to understanding consciousness, culture, and human behavior.”

#psychoanalysis #occulture #occultureconference #sigmundfreud #antonlavey #horror #morbidanatomy #renderingunconscious #anartapart #thefenriswolf #vanessasinclair #carlabrahamsson

All good things in one place

A free post today introducing what’s available from my desk and beyond:

https://thefenriswolf.substack.com/p/media-mogulism

#occulture #anartapart #thefenriswolf #vanessasinclair #carlabrahamsson